Vintage Purls

I do a little lace knitting and I’d read stuff by American knitters which referred to “blocking wires”. When I investigated this further it seemed like a way to ease the pain of blocking with just pins. The wires sold specifically to knitters for blocking seemed quite pricey and I’d read things about people using welding wire instead.

At Christmas time I asked my brother to get me some stainless steel wires I could use for blocking - he seemed pretty keen when I suggested it so I was quite satisfied that my Xmas present from him would be my very own blocking wire kit. Alas he found something else that took his fancy (and I’m not complaining the books I got instead are very charming). However I still wanted blocking wires so I went to visit some welding/engineering type stores.The first place I visited had what I wanted but only in boxes of 500 odd pieces and I really didn’t want that much wire. They suggested a few other places to try and my next destination was pure gold. I went to Wilson Bros.

Wilson Bros has four shops in the South Island so if you are in Dunedin, Christchurch, Invercargill or Nelson you can make them your local supplier of blocking wires.

I bowled in and asked for stainless steel tig welding wires (yes that’s “tig” not “mig” - different things). These wires come in different thicknesses so if you are like me you’ll ask what sizes they’ve got and get them to take you out back and show you so you can touch the merchandise and pick the wires best suited to your needs. I got some 1.2mm ones for straight lines and some 1mm ones for curves (like sleeve tops - you can use blocking wires on all your knitting not just lace). They are priced by weight and are very reasonable, I spent a grand total of $17.08 and got more wire than I’ll use for any one project ever.

The salesperson who served me was very nice, didn’t once make me feel silly or odd and admitted that they actually sell more tig wire to art students and crafts people than anything else so really I was a mainstream customer for this stuff.

So, here is the step-by-step to making your own blocking wire kit:

1. Go to Wilson Bros Ltd (in Dunedin it is behind the railway station - they are almost directly opposite the foot bridge that used to run over the tracks). If you aren’t near a Wilson Bros then try and find an engineering supplies store - hit the Yellow Pages to find some possible suppliers.
2. Ask for “stainless steel tig welding wire”. If you aren’t sure of the exact thicknesses you want ask to feel the merchandise.
3. Whip past your favorite sewing supplies store and pick up some T pins (which are heavier than regular pins and can hold up against the weight of the wires).
4. Put wires, T pins and a measuring tape/stick in one area - ta da, you are now the proud owner of a blocking wire kit.

Disclaimer: Photo above is not of a real blocking situation, it’s just a mock up for illustrative purposes. Don’t expect to see a grand fluffy shawl reveal here any time soon - that’s just a swatch and it’s not a project high on any of my lists.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 24th, 2008 at 3:15 pm and is filed under Do It Yourself, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.